Mark Duggan's rapper son jailed over gun crime
- Published
The drill rapper son of Mark Duggan, who was shot dead by police 13 years ago, has been jailed for five years for having a gun.
Kemani Duggan, 23, who is known as Bandokay, admitted having a Tokarev pistol and 22 bulleted cartridges with intent to cause fear of violence.
His associate Abdou Bojang, 22, from Hackney, north London, pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm and ammunition without a firearm certification and was also handed a five-year jail term.
The pair, who are associated with a north London gang, were sentenced earlier at the Old Bailey.
The court heard how police had raided Bojang's parents' flat in Hackney on 21 March last year.
The firearm and rounds were discovered in the communal underground car park on a concrete ledge inside a JD Sports bag which also contained two foot-long (60cm) knives.
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Duggan's DNA was identified on the gun slide and he was arrested at Gatwick airport on 13 January.
On his phone was a Snapchat photograph of the same gun and 23 rounds.
Just before the gun was found, Bojang had messaged Duggan: "Yooo bro, where yu, There's feds in my block akh. I might be getting nicked."
Diana Wilson, prosecuting, said Duggan, of Islington, north London, was a well-known drill artist associated with the Old Farm Boys (OFB) criminal gang based on the Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham.
She said: "The prosecution expert has concluded that there is no question that over the years he is an elder or senior gang member in the OFB.
"One consequence of this is that he would naturally be at a heightened risk of violence from rival gang members, this would be additionally heightened by his status as a successful drill artist and the son of Mark Duggan which raises his profile to would-be attackers."
She added: "As a result of his fame, he has become a target for violence from others associated with urban street gangs."
Ms Wilson said that Duggan's accepted plea was made on the basis that he was provided with a firearm and ammunition to protect himself.
Duggan had asserted that he would only have carried the gun to "scare any prospective aggressor away".
Mitigating, Gregory Fishwick said Duggan expressed the long-term effects of losing his father in his lyrics.
Despite growing up in an area where he was seen as "no more than his father's son", Duggan had "tried to get away from that" and be a "proper father" to his own son, Mr Fishwick said.
Sentencing, Judge Philip Katz KC said: "It is accepted that there were grounds for a fear that people might try to attack you, Duggan.
"You have a high profile, arising not only from your own career as an artist in the genre of drill rap, with all its gang associations, but also from your unfortunate life history."
The defendants waved to supporters in the public gallery as they were sent down from the dock.
Duggan was 11 when his 29-year-old father Mark Duggan was shot dead in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011.
Armed officers had intercepted a minicab Mr Duggan was travelling in on the basis of intelligence that he was carrying a gun.
A pistol was later found around seven metres away from the minicab.
Mr Duggan's shooting in August 2011, by an officer known only as V53, sparked riots in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and other English cities for nearly a week.
- Published2 July
- Published27 October 2015
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